He is clearly laboring and I agree that it's not something that gets better with rest like a groin. I feel it could be a knee issue that will require surgery.

I think it probably is a groin issue but I also think it's bad enough that a few days' rest won't be enough. A whole week might not even be enough, but even if it was, I doubt the Devils can live without him for TWO games.

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of the Devils' mascot, NJ Devil, and of all mascots far and wide.

IT IS VERY HARD TO WIN ONE STANLEY CUP, FORGET ABOUT THREE... and maybe it's high time some of you actually APPRECIATED THAT instead of treating it like it's some flipping birthright because for some random reason you rooted for the damn Devils!!!!!

Devils right wing Ilya Kovalchuk, who appears to be trying to play through a lower-back issue, played 21:20 in today’s 4-3 overtime loss in Philadelphia and did not register a shot on goal. He did have an assist on Travis Zajac’s power-play goal in the second period, though.

“It’s a tough one, but overall you’ve got ups and downs,” Kovalchuk said. “So, I’ve got to see what I can do better and be better next game.”

Kovalchuk was in the medical room for a while after the game and walked slowly through the locker room to go get dressed before returning to talk to the media.

When asked (for like the 20th time) if he is healthy, Kovalchuk replied, “Yeah” and then walked away.

Says he spent a substantial amount of time in the medical room after the game yesterday and before slowly making his way back to the locker room.

It sucks losing a superstar player, and that NBC probably poisoned the minds of a lot of people with all the Kovy bashing they felt compelled to do during the game yesterday. The guy's getting a raw deal, probably still because of that contract.

Still, half a Kovy is better than a whole anyone else we may have waiting in the wings.

Do we even have half? He really hurt us yesterday.

If he does play, he shouldn't be logging huge minutes and doing nothing. That's obviously on the coach, who would be a fool to just roll Kovalchuk out there maimed, playing the same amount of minutes and expecting a better result.

DeBoer deserves a lot of credit for putting together our bang-up fourth line. Now he's gotta do something about Kovalchuk. We need a lot to go right to win this series, and waiting around for a gimpy Kovalchuk to bang in a laser now and then doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

If he does play, he shouldn't be logging huge minutes and doing nothing. That's obviously on the coach, who would be a fool to just roll Kovalchuk out there maimed, playing the same amount of minutes and expecting a better result.

DeBoer deserves a lot of credit for putting together our bang-up fourth line. Now he's gotta do something about Kovalchuk. We need a lot to go right to win this series, and waiting around for a gimpy Kovalchuk to bang in a laser now and then doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

He's not playing the same amount of minutes. Yesterday's game went almost 65 minutes, he played 21 minutes. Here's his OT games this year:

In every OT game NJ played this season, Kovalchuk got more ice time. I don't see how much more they can cut his time - maybe get him down around 18 or 19 minutes a game - but anything more than that, I don't see it happening.

"What's Wrong With Kovalchuk" sounds like the name of an ABC after-school special.

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"A lot o' people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch o' unconnected incidents 'n things. They don't realize that there's this, like, lattice o' coincidence that lays on top o' everything. Give you an example; show you what I mean: suppose you're thinkin' about a plate o' shrimp. Suddenly someone'll say, like, plate, or shrimp, or plate o' shrimp out of the blue, no explanation. No point in lookin' for one, either. It's all part of a cosmic unconciousness."

Big from me too. He's been dreaming of a moment like this for more than a decade. He's reached the second round of the playoffs with a very capable team. Not only that, but he HATES the Flyers and this matchup has sometimes brought out the best in him. Very painful and sad for us fans to see him hurting out there.